Shimla: Municipal Corporation court orders demolition of entire structure of Sanjauli mosque, rules it illegal after Waqf Board failed to prove ownership

In a significant development in the case of a mosque in Shimla’s Sanjauli area, the municipal corporation court has ordered the demolition of the entire 5-storey structure. The court ruled that the entire mosque is unauthorised, and therefore, the entire building has to be bulldozed.

MC commissioner Bhupender Kumar Attri ruled that the mosque had been built without the necessary permissions. It didn’t have a building permit, a no-objection certificate, and a sanctioned map. The court ordered demolition of the lower two floors of the mosque, apart from the demolition of the upper three floors as per an order issued in October last year.

As per reports, the Waqf Board was not able to present the papers of ownership of the mosque land. While the board has been claiming ownership of the land, it could not present the requisite no-objection certificate (NOC) or any revenue record proving its ownership.

“The MC commissioner has ordered the demolition of the mosque as the mosque committee or the Waqf Board failed to provide records pertaining to the ownership of the land on which the mosque has been built,” said advocate Jagat Pal, representing local residents of Sanjauli.

In the earlier hearing, the court had ordered the demolition of the upper 3 floors and submission of records for the lower floors. But when the court heard the matter today, the Waqf Board had no documents to back its claims. The board claimed that the mosque had existed at the place before 1947, which was demolished and reconstructed.

But the court asked if the mosque is so old, why didn’t they obtain maps and other necessary permissions from the Municipal Corporation for demolishing the old mosque and constructing a new one. After considering the arguments, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhupinder Atri ruled that the entire structure is illegal and ordered its demolition.

Notably, the High Court had instructed the Municipal court to complete the matter in six months, which was ending in 8^th May. However, the court delivered the verdict ahead of the deadline.

On October 5 last year, the Municipal Commissioner Court had ordered the demolition of the top three floors of the Sanjauli Mosque. After that, the demolition work of the mosque started but it is progressing at a very slow pace. So far, only the roof of the mosque and the walls of the third and fourth floors have been removed.

Now that entire building has been declared illegal and its demolition has been ordered, the Waqf Board and Sanjauli Mosque Committee will have to bring down the entire structure. As the detailed court order is not available yet, it is not known if the court set any deadline to complete the demolition.

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